Thursday, August 20, 2009

Pre-order splurge

I've had an interesting journey trying to get The Rule Book into Irish bookshops; I've learnt a lot about the book publishing industry in the process. I won't bore you with the details but it seems that the impasse has been cleared (by me taking a cut in royalties so that the publisher and distributor both got what they wanted). I got two reports yesterday of sightings, one in the Dublin Airport, the other in the window of Hodges Figgis, the largest bookshop in Dublin. Hopefully the blumming thing will now find its way into reader's hands ...

Anyway, feeling chipper with myself I decided to splurge and pre-order some books. I very rarely do this, but there are a couple of authors and series I'm prepared put my hand in pocket for. So I've ordered the following, which when they are delivered will zip to the top of a to read pile that's already rickety.

Are there any authors or series that you feel compelled to buy the minute they're published (and forget the price)?

I can't wait to get stuck into these. If they all turn up on the same day I won't know where to start. I also know a couple of people who'll be pestering me for first dibs once I've finished. In fact I imagine they might get snaffled the moment I turn my back.

I also decided to buy two others. Old Flames is the second book in the Troy series, the first of which I reviewed yesterday. If Donna Moore's blog is anything to go by then Go To Helena Handbasket should be a blast. Expect reviews this side of Christmas! I know I'm not going to be able to stop myself, but I really don't need to buy any more books before then.

Flip-it - I've just read the order email from Amazon. Peter Temple is published 3rd Sept, Philip Kerr 10th Sept, and Terry Pratchett 1st Oct. I just followed the default settings which groups the delivery into as few as parcels as possible so the expected delivery date is 7th-13th Oct! I need to to keep a better eye on that next time. Grrrr.

8 comments:

The Amazon pub dates fluctuate a lot - I had a book on pre-order for a daughter for several months, showing this summer. The day of pub, the date shifted to next Feb! I don't think this is entirely Amazon's fault, as they are dependent on the date the publisher supplies and these dates are notoriously subject to change. Peter Temple being a case in point! He does not write quickly so his dates are sometimes more to do with publisher optimism than reality, I think. Yes, White Dog is on my "desperately looking forward to" list - I love Peter Temple. Michael Connelly is another I'm very keen on. Usually, though, I don't actually pre-order - I am bad enough on ordering stuff that is already published. I do have about 300 entries in my Amazon basket at any given time, though.

I think Amazon is pretty good at combining orders like yours even when the dates vary, by the way. I've been pleasantly surprised by them, eg if you order two books and one is delayed, they often just send them separately to you with no extra charge. I rather like Amazon, on the whole, once you get used to its idiosyncracies. (reading recommendations, for example.)

I try to order most books through local bookshops, but the price reductions on some pre-order hardbacks on Amazon means it's difficult to justify paying full whack locally. I don't worry too much about taking the business away from them as I buy 95 percent of the books I read, so they still take a chunk of my disposable income. Like you, Peter Temple and Michael Connolly are both favourites. The Scarecrow is on the to read pile. I'm keeping it for when I have a run of mediocre stuff and I need a guarenteed good read, though it might make it to the top sooner than that.

I am really glad to hear your book is getting around! It certainly deserves it.

Peter Temple is also high on my list, but as I have not read his older series yet, I plan to begin there. I looked for Terry Pratchett the other day (for me and my daughter), but didn´t find any at the right price.

I reviewed Donna´s book in March - one of the few books that really made me laugh.

Dorte, you can get most of the Terry Pratchett from the Book Depository for around 7.50 euro which includes delivery to Denmark. You'll probably get cheaper off of Abebooks. I can post you a bunch if you'll send them back.

Donna, got an email last night to say that Go to Helena has been dispatched so looking forward to picking it up at the end of next week (I'm away in Manchester Mon-Fri). I see you were at Teenage Fanclub last night. I think I first saw them around 1991. Bandwagonesque was one of the first albums I bought on CD once I finally conceded that it probably best to switch from vinyl. I have the first four albums, I guess I should check out some of the later stuff. There's a few authors there that I might need to check out. Joe Lansdale is near the top of my list as well.

About Me

I'm a professor at the National University of Ireland Maynooth and author or editor of 28 academic books and a 12 volume encyclopedia, and author of four crime novels and two collections of short stories. My passions are reading crime fiction and undertaking research on social issues and digital technologies. The other blogs I contribute to are The Programmable City and Ireland After NAMA.